conquering icarus
by Titania Eli
Summary: crack pairing; lyon/minerva, a series of drabbles. – she was a monster in human skin.
1. first sight

**i. first sight**

The first time they met was during a regular meeting for the provincial Guild Masters. Everyone in Lamia Scale knew Ooba has always harboured an intense dislike for Guild Master Jiemma after Sabertooth had overtaken Lamia Scale as the strongest guild in Fiore. Everyone also knew of their Master's rash and troublesome personality, so they always elected either Jura or Lyon to accompany her whenever the Guild Masters' meetings were held.

This year, it was Lyon's turn. He was twenty-four when he first met Minerva Orland.

They had bumped into each other on his way into the meeting room. She had captured his attention solely because he has never seen anyone accompanying Jiemma before.

Long dark hair tied into a pair of braids rested over her shoulders, and even in her casual Eastern-style dress, she moved like a Queen. It was hard to take your eyes off such a woman.

"Hmph, leaving the meeting early as always. Who does he thinks he is?" Ooba grumbled as both pairs passed each other. Lyon glanced at the intimidating man carefully, but he didn't seem to have heard, just continued walking without looking at either of them.

He turned back just as Minerva passed him. She stopped briefly, watching him with a thin smirk on her lips. He felt his breathing hitched in his throat before she looked away and continued on her way.

"Move faster, Lyon!" Ooba barked impatiently. He released his breath and hurried after the elderly woman. His heart raced beneath his ribcage and he tried not to think about how green her eyes were.

He didn't know who she was until a month later.


	2. misunderstandings

**ii. misunderstandings**

He was on a solo mission to protect a politician. Easy, he had first thought. The man was a politician, yes, but he wasn't very important. Whatever enemies he have, Lyon could deal easily. The last person he ever expected to face was the dark-haired woman he had met a month ago at the Guild Masters' regular meeting.

He does not expect her to lunge straight for the man he was supposed to protect.

"Minerva Orland," she introduced herself when he deflected her blow.

"Why are you attacking him?" he demanded. He gestured for the cowering man to flee. Minerva leaped forward to intercept the man, but found her way blocked by a huge ice tiger that growled at her.

She flicked her wrist lazily, and the tiger vanished. "Your magic will not work on me. Move aside, Lyon Vastia."

His answer was an ice serpent that ripped apart the room they were in and nearly took her head off.

"My mission is to protect that man." he told her, even when she shattered the serpent effortlessly. It was hard not to feel envious of such power. "Your mission, apparently, is to harm my client."

"Not harm him," she denied. "I am not a Dark Mage, after all. My mission was to retrieve some important documents from your client. It seems that we have a conflict in our missions."

He frowned, trying to hide his unease from her. His client had not said anything about any documents.

His brief distraction costed him when he found himself pinned to the ground, a bubble of magic encompassing his body. The bubble sucked at his own magic, slowly draining his reserves.

"Do not hate me, Lyon Vastia," she said, raising a brow. "But I have no intention of failing my mission."

This was the second time she had called his name. His skin prickled every time she said his name. He does not like the feeling.

"So do I." he retorted. Minerva looked up in surprise as the entire building trembled. The geyser suddenly burst out of the marble flooring and tore through the ceiling.

Minerva jumped to the side as the chandelier dropped and shattered at the spot where she was standing a second ago. The bubble disappeared with a soft pop and Lyon slumped in relief.

But his relief was not for long as more loose fragments of the ceiling continued falling around them. His ice geyser had been created out of sheer desperation and anger and it had exploded out of his control.

He forced himself to sit up, grimacing as a block of plaster narrowly missed his head. Minerva was nowhere to be found and he was glad that at least his client had evacuated.

He grimaced when the terrible sound of _breaking_ cracked loudly above him. He glanced upwards, only to see the entire ceiling falling towards him.

Just as he shut his eyes, he felt someone slammed into him, hugging him so tightly that he nearly couldn't breathe. Then there's a nauseating sensation that felt like his body was squashed and thrown into a box, before he hit soft ground.

He coughed, blinking sharply against the sunlight. Green eyes peered back at him.

"...Minerva?" he asked, gripping his pounding head.

He sat up, looking around. Trees surrounded them, accompanied by the soft twitters of birds in the air.

"Did you... save me?" he turned his attention back to the woman crouched beside him.

Her smile was vulpine as she stood up and absently brushed at her skirt. "Father will not be happy if he finds out I caused a Mage's death."

Once again, he watched her left without saying anything.

It was only after he returned back to his guild, guilty and embarrassed for failing the mission, that he realized that he hadn't told Minerva his name at all.


	3. war empress

**iii. war empress**

Their third encounter happened during the Grand Magic Games in X790.

As predicted, Sabertooth – or more specifically, _Minerva _– decimated every opponent in the arena.

She was stunning, he thought, beautiful in her brutality and strength. She took down every single one of her opponents with ease. It was a pity he couldn't participate this year.

Sabertooth easily won, seizing first place with such effortlessness that had Lyon wondering if they had even feel any pressure in the Games.

But there was also the number of missing major players this year. Jura was busy with errands for the Magic Council. Mermaid Heel's ace had not made an appearance at all. Ooba had felt that Chelia was enough for this year's Grand Magic Games. And then there was Fairy Tail...

He felt a pang of grief at the thought of Gray and quickly willed it away.

The disappearance of Fairy Tail's heavy hitters and powerhouse members had left the guild severely weakened. They had come in last for the past six years. It was truly a fall from glory for the once sublime guild that had once been the Strongest.

Lyon sighed softly, leaving the balcony that overlooked the arena. He shot one last look at the striking dark-haired woman surrounded by her guild mates, feeling a smile tugging at his lips upon seeing the absolute euphoria on her face.

Next year, he would definitely participate.

Next year, he smiled, should be interesting.


	4. beautiful monster

_Yeah, no falling in love instantly..._

* * *

**iv. beautiful monster **

He had to bite back his horrified gasp as Lucy's screams echoed throughout the arena. The blonde was a really unlucky woman, he thought morbidly, watching her pained expression in shocked fascination. The Celestial Spirit Mage had a bad habit of attracting insane psychopaths with a thirst of destruction, namely, Flare and now, Minerva.

His eyes were drawn towards the cruel visage of the dark-haired woman. Her crimson lips were stretched wide in a feral grin, maniacal laughter lighting up her eyes.

He knew she was vicious. Brutal and sadistic. But _this... _this was a monster wearing a human face.

He swallowed, the fine hairs on his skin standing up as a chill ran down his spine. He tightened his fingers over his arm, fighting back the urge to bolt and hide.

Was... this fear?

He looked back up as Lucy was thrown out of the water sphere. Minerva stepped out of the sphere gracefully, her face showing a remarkably lack of remorse.

"So cruel..." Sherry whispered, her face pale at the display of blatant torture. This wasn't even a proper match anymore. It's nothing but savagery.

He silently agreed with her, watching as Lucy was carried away to the infirmary, her friends following worriedly behind her.

He froze when Minerva suddenly glanced up. Her eyes looked black from the distance between them. She wasn't smiling, he noticed, in spite of her victory. Her eyes rested on him, steady and unfathomable. He averted his eyes first, swallowing back the mixture of shock, fear and horror that have not yet faded.

Brutality and beauty and danger, that's what made up Minerva Orland. Those were the traits that made her Queen.

Defeating her would be tough. Even he doubted his own ability to beat her.

He could still feel Minerva's eyes on him even when he left her line of sight. She was dangerous, extremely so, and if he knew any better, he'd stayed away from her.

He wasn't Gray; he doesn't get off on danger or feel any thrill in the throes of it. Leave the danger and adventure to the crazy ones like Fairy Tail.

He was satisfied and contented with his current life.


End file.
